President William Ruto has dismissed calls by the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) to disband the Hustler Fund, defending it as a successful initiative.
Speaking during a Presidential Private Sector Roundtable in Nairobi, Ruto praised the fund’s impact since its launch in November 2022, emphasizing the significant amount of money disbursed over the past three years.
“Our critics – the naysayers, the perpetual pessimists, the chorus that never sees anything working in Kenya would have you believe that the Hustler Fund is a total failure,” the President said.
His remarks came in response to a recent KHRC report titled Failing the Hustlers, which recommended that Parliament and the Executive shut down the fund. The commission argued that the program had failed to achieve its financial inclusion goals, pointing to high default rates and growing losses.
The President labeled these assertions as deliberate distortions meant to undermine the government’s progress.
“And now, those same critics are spreading fear and despondency by falsely claiming that the Fund has a 60pc default rate,” Ruto stated. “That is a deliberate distortion of facts. The truth backed by data is that the Hustler Fund has a recovery rate of 83.3pc, nearly identical to that of the formal banking sector, whose repayment rate stands at 83.6pc.”
He also dismissed concerns about the fund’s Ksh1,000 micro-loans and their 14-day repayment period, which the commission claimed were insufficient to start meaningful businesses. Ruto insisted that the initiative plays a critical role in building grassroots economic resilience.
“We will not be distracted by the merchants of doom and negativity, those who, when facts do not serve their agenda, resort to fabricating narratives to prop up their falsehoods. We remain unfazed in building a new, inclusive, fair and equitable society, and I count on the private sector, an essential ally and collaborator, in this quest,” the President said.
He also reassured the private sector that the government is actively addressing the key concerns raised by industry stakeholders.
